Las Vegas, NV (AP) - Poor air quality warnings in the Las Vegas metro area are now more common as drought and wildfires in the West become more frequent.
Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability has issued a blanket advisory for the entire hot weather season—April 1 thru Sept. 30.
Air quality advisories about smoky air used to be something that only occurred once in a while.
Kevin MacDonald, a department spokesman, says the agency decided to be more proactive because wildfires are “a new normal for us in southern Nevada.” A lot of the impact has been from hundreds of miles away in northern Nevada, California and Arizona, he added.
In recent years, wildfire smoke advisories have been issued on more than a dozen days.
Smokey air can cause significant health problems. For those with respiratory issues like asthma, bad air quality can lead to hospitalizations. Climate change experts say wildfire smoke likely has the same impact as regular air pollution, where ozone levels surpass federal standards.